


Nothing Gold Can Stay

by CluelessButTrying



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Set during episode 198, assorted what the cult members
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 11:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30071541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CluelessButTrying/pseuds/CluelessButTrying
Summary: A story of how the cult was lost, in two parts.
Relationships: Georgie Barker/Melanie King
Kudos: 9





	Nothing Gold Can Stay

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Robert Frost's poem of the same name.
> 
> I just couldn't get over how tragic it is that Melanie & Georgie lost their people, plus I love those two more than life, so of course I had to write the missing scene. This is the first piece I've written for TMA so hopefully I got it right! Leave a comment and let me know :)

When the watchers came, the first time, Melanie didn’t know what had gone wrong. All she knew was the relative peace, the feeling of safety – as much safety there is hiding from the apocalypse in a tunnel – was shattered. Her people were screaming.

Georgie had found her, held onto her hand. She’d said frantically in her ear that, “The watchers from outside, they’ve gotten in, they’re taking them away.” Then they ran to the central room, pulling as many people as they could from the clutching arms of the monsters. Or they tried. Mostly Melanie would hear a cry for help, a beg for mercy, and reach out to it, only to feel empty air. Several times a hand grabbed her own, but was snatched away. She had listened as their screams faded into the distance.

They managed to save seven, that time. Georgie did most of it. She had found them huddling in corners, running down tunnels, struggling to escape the watchers, and brought them to a small dead-end corridor. There Melanie stood guard, praying her immunity could protect them all. She felt the familiar rage bubbling beneath her skin. Now she did not try to calm herself, as Laverne taught her, but instead let her anger build, let it drown out the terror, let it strengthen her. She held her cane like a weapon, and swung it toward anything that hummed.

After that they were prepared. They were careful. They did not rescue anyone else.

It did no good.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the watchers came, the second time, Georgie did not feel afraid, but rather an acute absence of fear. Like a phantom limb, or a gaping wound in her chest, she felt the edges of where her fear should be, and she felt the total emptiness beyond. It hurt.

She didn’t dwell on it, of course. How could she, when the people she cared about, people she had promised to protect, were in danger? She just grabbed Celia, yanked her away from the monster that was reaching out to take her back into a living nightmare, and ran to find Melanie.

What Georgie found was a swarm. Over a dozen watchers glided across the room they’d made the center of their living space, all dark robes and low hums and enormous, unblinking eyes. One of them had Laverne. Melanie was in the center with them, and she pulled on Laverne with both hands, shouting something incoherent. Three more watchers surrounded them, and Melanie lost her grip. She was left standing alone as Laverne was taken away, screaming.

Still Georgie was not afraid. Its absence cut her; still it hurt.

She went to Melanie and took her hand, but she could offer no comfort before she heard a scream behind her and felt Celia grab her arm, tight as an iron shackle. One of the monsters was trying to take her. She and Melanie both set to pulling Celia away, getting her to safety, while the woman sobbed and begged. It was no use. The humming grew louder, and eyes surrounded them on all sides. So many eyes, staring not at the two false prophets, but at Celia, and there was nothing they could do against the mass of creatures that surrounded her. She, too, was gone.

All the others were taken. Arun was the last they tried to save, as he pleaded for help, but the women could not be his saviors for a second time. Then there were too many even to push their way through. All they could do was stand against a wall and listened helplessly while the last of their people were dragged off screaming.

It took hours for the watchers to disperse. They were finally left with just the two of them, all alone. Georgie still was not afraid, but there was no room for emptiness, for phantom pain, not when her chest was so full of despair. Melanie held her, and she held Melanie. That was all they could do: hold each other, and weep.


End file.
